Budget for New Line horror pic was just $20 million

Note to Universal: When it comes to ghosts, it would appear audiences prefer the fact-based kind vs. silly spirits being chased by Ryan Reynolds and the Dude.

Universal’s $130 million disaster “R.I.P.D.,” which grossed a dismal $4.5 million on Friday and is headed toward just $12 million in three days, joins the summer’s list of biggest bombs, except the studio scaled back on the pic’s marketing spend. The Reynolds-Jeff Bridges sci-fi comedy is potentially the biggest money-loser of the season.

On the complete opposite end of the spectral spectrum, Warner Bros.-New Line’s fact-based scarer “The Conjuring,” which cost just $20 million to produce, made nearly that opening day, with $17 million. Pic is expected to gross north of $35 million through Sunday.

“The Conjuring,” which stars Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson and is directed by James Wan (“Saw”), was tracking to land somewhere in the mid-$20 millions for the three days, making it a close race for first with Fox’s DreamWorks Animation pic “Turbo.”

That won’t happen, since the Reynolds-voiced toon isn’t expected to crack even the $20 million in three days. Instead, “Turbo,” which made just $6.5 million on Friday, will gross around $27 million in its first five days.

The domestic start for “Turbo,” which cost $135 million to produce, is even more sluggish than expected, marking the worst three-day opening for recent CGI-animated DreamWorks toons. Pic will need to rely on overseas now even more to become financially solvent.

Also getting buried this weekend, Lionsgate-Summit’s “Red 2″ collected just $6.3 million on Friday. The studio projects the film will earn less than what the original did opening weekend, with $18 million.

Helping offset its hugely disappointing opening of “R.I.P.D.,” Universal saw a better-than-expected hold for “Despicable Me 2″ on Friday, landing in second place behind “The Conjuring,” with $7.4 million.

“Despicable Me 2″ should gross nearly $25 million in its third frame (down just 44%), lifting its Stateside cume to north of $275 million and making it the year’s third-highest grossing release so far, behind “Iron Man 3″ and “Man of Steel.”

Hollywood always seems to try and find a formula for box office hits but they just have no clue, once they have a formula, its regurgitated crap and no one likes that. At the moment they are just scrolling through Stan Lee’s comic book collection. Look back to the 60’s/70’s where producers had to start realising they had no clue about what the public wanted in movies and started to dish out cash and give new directors a chance and creative freedom, Dennis Hopper and Easy Rider for instance. We’ve got the same thing happening again I feel. James Wan and Leigh Wannell can produce horror/thrillers like no one else. Hollywood needs to take more risks, for the price of one big budget crap movie with stars, produce 10 low budget movies and you’ll likely get at least 3-4 hits.

Hollywood needs to do nothing of the sort. For instance: despite horrible reviews,Grown Ups 2 (a sequel to an uninspired road trip commedy) was box office gold on the weekend of it’s opening. Sequels and formulaic nonsense will always rule becase movie producers would rather err on the side of familiarty. They have to because there’s too much money at stake, too many backers looking for a return on their investment. It’s all a risk. What Hollywood needs to do is be a bit more selective abut the risks they take. Pouring 130 million into a blatant rip off of Men in Black is a risk not worth taking.

BILL
I haven’t seen “THE CONJURING” yet, but
NEITHER HAVE YOU! Don’t be so quick to write it off. You are dismissing it as “quasi-scary”, but my input sources are describing it as one of the scariest horror films ever! In it’s own genre it may be another scary, little low budget, low expectations film that defies the experts and goes on to become a recognized masterpiece of the macabre! Late along in his career, HITCHCOCK had one like that, that no one believed in, except the people making it. MAYBE you’re old enough to remember it. It was called “PSYCHO “…..or am I….

Stars don’t come from good stock anymore nor are they truly groomed as yester years. They don’t even look like they are worth $20million when you see them on the street as stars before did. They look like the everyday common man that works his ass off and makes nothing. If common man had a team of stylists and makeup artists then they might command the same money as those we call “Stars” today. Hollywood is going in the wrong direction!

Capitalistic-conservative Americans…are tired of supporting “STARS,” that don’t support them. Look at the films, making money anymore…no Stars…Low Budgets…great NEW stories. C’mon Hollywood…get with the program…you’re not getting it.

So, the weekend summons forth three flops(Turbo, Red2 and R.I.P.D.) and an overachiever(The Conjuring). This is definitely one of those weekends where the theaters thank the holdovers(Despicable Me, Monster’s U., World War Z, The Heat) for continuing to bring in their audiences because much of the new stuff won’t hold up long enough to even be considered mid-level successes. Besides the three new bombs, Grown Ups 2 and Pacific Rim both cratered into the ground significantly from last Friday.